The Jackson Free Press (JFP) is Jackson's smart alternative, covering news, culture and politics for Mississippi's capital city. The JFP is Mississippi's first and only AAN publication, serving a growing metropolitan area of 450,000, including 30,000+ college students. Steeped in...

Ballast is a single family's story. It's a story that, for its scant, struggling ray of hope (bond together as family, and things won't be OK, but they may get better), depicts Mississippi as a romantically devastated place.

The first time I heard Weezer, the band was a musical guest on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." I was a freshman at Delta State, and those were good times because bands such as Nirvana opened the floodgates for artists that fit into a broad category called "alternative music" to enter mainstream TV and radio.